Lo and behold! so, i am finally here. :)
As i near the last days of my journey as a programmer in the company where i started it, i stop for a while and try to look back.
The industry and the practices have evolved. I have seen different breeds of developers over these these 4 years who have touched my heart as well as my soul.

Characteristics of a good programmer
Navin has always been a role model for many of us. Why?

1. He is passionate.
2. He can think.
3. He is persistent (unlike many of my techie friends).
4. He has strong belief in himself.
5. He motivates lesser mortals around him.
6. He will be happier sitting at office at 3 am to finish off that 9.0 version of serializer. It was last night when he published version 8.0.
7. At 5 am he will say, let's celebrate the new release over few games of volleyball. :)
8. C++ or Java? How does it matter! Platforms and technologies only complement.
   
9. Does not get bogged down by strong opposition or criticism.
10. He tries to revolutionize the world.

Ajit has been another version of Navin.
But it's the newer generation of programmers whom I love most.

New breed of techies

1. The best thing about them - They might be just out of college but they know what they want. It's amazing - Gone are the days when skills used to be proportional to experience. Not any more.
   
2. Their awareness levels are extra-ordinarily high. Nirav, Gaurav, Ketan, Ravi, Vamsi, Sushant and others - you have blown me off my feet with your active interests and thinking. You have already contributed towards impacting the world around you or you aspire to. I am inspired! And, you are the reason I have started writing here.
   
3. They have an attitude. They possess a burning desire to win the entire world.
4. Programming is poetry to them. It should not be abused by non-optimized, junk and redundant code. Rather it should be nurtured and pampered.
5. Reusability is the mantra. They don't sit and code immediately when a chore is assigned. They look for available solutions. If needed, design their own. Then, try to improve it - look for alternatives. And the outcome can rival the best.
   
6. Belief in good practices. Test driven development is 'the' philosophy.
7. They will put their hands on anything that's suave with their focus on few. They try out anything and everything - growing way beyond the office boundaries.
   

Hats off to you guyz. :)

Labels: Best Practices, Programming

This entry was posted by Nawal Kishore Lodha, on Thursday, February 22, 2007. You can leave your response.